In communication devices such as radios, it is common to provide an external connector on the radio for use in connecting external accessories to the radio. Some of the external accessories such as speaker/microphones with remote antennas, vehicular adapters, etc. require that once the external accessory is connected to the radio connector, the radio automatically reroute the radio frequency (RF) signals from the radio's primary antenna to the external accessory via the external connector. The routing of the RF signals is usually accomplished using some form of switching device which cooperates with the radio's external connector. A typical RF switching device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,390, by Alexander et al.
Among the problems encountered with prior art switching devices include their large size, the amount of movable parts required to perform the switching function and the long electrical path lengths from the radio's printed circuit board to the external radio connector causing reduction of the RF signal strength through the switch. A need thus exists for a switch assembly which can solve the above mentioned problems.